About Me

My name is Katie Evans. I’m married with 3 kiddos, Madaline (12), Lyndon (10), and Lily (5). We have a dog named Charlie who I have a love/hate relationship with. Hah!

My hubby, Jon, and I were married soon after we both returned home from Houston, TX where we were serving a mission for our church. He made me feel completely adored, appreciated, and cared for all before even dating him. Being with him was “home” so I knew I could never let him go.

I grew up in Idaho and have since called home to many places all over the U.S. I graduated from Utah State University in Logan, UT as a Recreation Therapist (Yeah, it’s an actual career.) and completed my college internship in Boston. I have a special spot in my heart for New England as I’ve spent many magical summers at Old Orchard Beach in Maine, explored Martha’s Vineyard, toured the mansion’s on the beaches of Rhode Island, and explored all over Boston.

Jon and I have lived in and and fell in love with many places since we’ve been married. We started out in Orlando, FL where Jon completed his degree in Sound Engineering at Full Sail University. We had season passes to Universal Studios and spent our first year of marriage riding as many roller coasters as we could.

When Jon graduated, we moved to Las Vegas, NV where he became the head engineer at a recording studio. As he pursued his dream career I explored a long time passion of photography by becoming an assistant to a lifestyle wedding photographer. He taught me how to use an SLR camera and I haven’t looked back since.

Jon and I had our first baby in Las Vegas and soon after moved to Austin, TX, the self-named “Live Music Capital of the World”, where Jon pursued his musical career of writing and recording his own album for his band, Launch Point.

We had baby # 2, Lyndon, and I continued in photography. After taking tens of thousands of trial and error photos, I finally came into my own. One thing led to the next and almost without realizing it, I had myself a full-blown photography business.

This continued for several years until I grew tired of many of the aspects of taking pictures for other people. I remember writing a goal that said, “I will do photography on my own terms.” At the time I didn’t know exactly what that looked like. All I knew was that I wanted to continue taking pictures, but do it a way that made me feel joy again.

That goal eventually led me to writing a photography book, The Key to Taking Pictures Like a Professional Photographer”. It was and has been the source of creating thousands of accomplished photographers all over the world. I don’t say that to boast, I say it out of awe of what can happen when you follow your passion.

After writing my book I began teaching photography workshops all over the country. I love to travel and meet new people so it was a win/win for me. (I’ve since created more photography workshops but now everything is online.)

From Texas we moved to our dream state of Colorado. Before we were married, Jon and I had the goal of living there. We love the weather, the mountains, and it was right in the middle of Nebraska (where Jon’s parents are) and Idaho (where my parents are).

Soon after we moved to Colorado I had a pretty hard life blow. During my pregnancy with Lily, our last baby, I experienced pretty severe anxiety. I had a little bit of anxiety with both of my other pregnancies but it went away immediately after I had them. I thought the same would happen when I had Lily, but no.

The anxiety only worsened but this time it was coupled with PPD. Ugh. However, there’s always a silver lining in any experience and the the ugliest chapter of my life soon threw me into one of the most joyful and satisfying chapters…

On a whim we decided to move next door to Disney World in Orlando, FL.

Amidst struggles and miracles we packed everything we owned into a storage unit in Denver, CO and eventually found ourselves living so close to the Magic Kingdom in Disney World that we could watch the fireworks show every night out our window.

Disney World became our playground and for the next 2 years we became familiar with each and every corner of the parks + resorts. It became a part of us.

Our season in Florida renewed me. It rekindled my joy in life and allowed me to dream big dreams once again. There’s something distinct and extraordinary about Disney that awakens the delight and thrill in life. It will always be a part of us.

That’s why I love writing about it so much. I not only know all the in’s and out’s of what goes on there but I love being able to share the pure joy of it with others.

Currently we live in Nebraska with plans to move back to Colorado soon. At this point we believe this will be our final move where we will finally plant some roots.

…but you never know. We may just have a whim to live somewhere else.

So what does it mean to “Be Katie Brave”?

I have the desire to put myself out there but with the fear of judgement and criticism I often talk myself out of it. However, over the years I’ve learned how to use different tools to push past my fears and go on and accomplish a lot cool stuff.

I love to write and share my experiences. It brings me so much joy to see that what I’ve shared has helped someone. That’s why writing my photography books and teaching classes has been so fulfilling.

I’ve been helping people with photography for so many years and now I have more that I want to share, more that I want to teach people about. This life is meant to enjoyed. Not just endured but experienced. I’m passionate about taking a chance on yourself and pushing forward to live your dream. Even if it’s scary. Especially if it’s scary. Because I’ve found that the things that scare us the most are usually leads to the door which holds incredibly satisfaction and joy.

So why a butterfly? I was trying to decide what to use for my logo and butterflies get coming up over and over again. But there’s one catch…I’m not a fan of butterflies. Not the actual insect but things that are girly and cutesy…heart, bows, and butterflies. However, they just still getting popping up for me… literally and in my thoughts.

I was out for a walk one day and a butterfly flew up next to me and continued staying right beside me for half a block. And then when I got home I was welcomed with at least 10 butterflies flying around me as I walked into the house.

Over the next several weeks I continued to see butterflies pop up everywhere around me. Continually drawing my attention back to them. And the big kicker was when my husband ran in to get me so I could see the tree that was in our backyard.

It was swarmed with butterflies! I had never see so many butterflies all in one place before. I ran to get my camera to capture such an incredible sight.

So after all of that I starting asking myself the question…what is it that I need to learn about butterflies?

I soon found my answer after just a short google search.

Paulo Coelho related this story,

“A man spent hours watching a butterfly struggling to emerge from its cocoon. It managed to make a small hole, but its body was too large to get through it. After a long struggle, it appeared to be exhausted and remained absolutely still.

The man decided to help the butterfly and, with a pair of scissors, he cut open the cocoon, thus releasing the butterfly. However, the butterfly’s body was very small and wrinkled and its wings were all crumpled.

The man continued to watch, hoping that, at any moment, the butterfly would open its wings and fly away. Nothing happened; in fact, the butterfly spent the rest of its brief life dragging around its shrunken body and shriveled wings, incapable of flight.

What the man – out of kindness and his eagerness to help – had failed to understand was that the tight cocoon and the efforts that the butterfly had to make in order to squeeze out of that tiny hole were Nature’s way of training the butterfly and of strengthening its wings.

Sometimes, a little extra effort is precisely what prepares us for the next obstacle to be faced. Anyone who refuses to make that effort, or gets the wrong sort of help, is left unprepared to fight the next battle and never manages to fly off to their destiny.”

I couldn’t deny it any longer. I needed a butterfly to be the official logo of Being Katie Brave. It reminds me of how I want to live my life and how I want to inspire others to live theirs…by embracing our struggles, and imperfections because those are the very things that will bring us the kind of life we were truly meant to live.

Please feel free to connect with me! Send me an email just say hi or to share a personal triumph with me. Whatever the case, know that I’m always cheering you on.

Join Me!

About Me

Welcome to Being Katie Brave! I’m so happy to have you here. If you’re looking to take better pictures (stress-free!), get the inside scoop on all things Disney World, or be inspired to live YOUR best life (especially if it scares you to death) …you’re in the right place. I’ve written 3 photography books, our family lived at Disney World for 2 years, and I wear my heart on my sleeve…all of which never would've come to pass if I didn’t push past my fears and step in the darkness. Join me as I share my adventure of life, one post at a time.